Computer Repair Shop Software

[mrapoc]

Hey all

the shop I work at just isn't coping with workload.

problems I find is that the booking in system is mainly paper based and then duplicated onto the computer. work sheets are paper based and then copied onto the invoice which is electronic and then paper based. we also have notepads for note taking (URGGHH!) which get lost and pages get turned over etc.

people are also ringing up to check on job status and its all a bit of a inefficient mess at the moment.

so I am on the hunt for a repairs management system that will make everything much more efficient. I am sure the boss will still want to carry on invoicing using sage but the rest of it as far as I am concerned needs to be updated, streamlined and modern.

there are a lot out there, just looking for personal recommendations really - needs to be easy to use, quick and efficient and not just a gimmick


some features I have seen on http://pcrepairtracker.com/ that i like are being able to print at dymo labels linked to that job that can be scanned with an optical scanner along with customers being able to check up on job status and be sent an SMS when we want to

 

[Wraith]

Do you have someone who is proficient with MS Access? You could create a database to easier stream line things, and organise every aspect of your working environment.

 

[barnsley]

+1 for MS access.

 

[mrapoc]

I started making one but just do not have the time to do any development in work hours.

That and I think it would be useful for customers to check progress online, have the function to send sms updates and have dymo labelling on check in (how cool is that?)

But yeh access was my first port of call but I have no time during the day to develop and the shop has cash problems (due to the amount of work ironically enough) so would not be able to pay for development out of hours. Plus I like free time to chill at home :lol:

 

[hmmblah]

The last PC repair place I worked for we implemented Zentrack. It's free web based software. Basically when a PC would come in the secretary would create a ticket in Zentrack with all the details of the customer and the PC problem. She'd then put a post it note on the customer's computer with the Zentrack ticket number and put the computer aside.

Whoever worked on it would just log into Zentrack and search for that ticket number. They could update the ticket from there with what they did and could enter the time of repair in as well.

Because it's already web based, you could open this up to the public and create accounts for the customer to log in and check on the status.

Please, please stay away from MS Access or spreadsheets.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/zentrack/

 

[Cragzman]

In our educational establishment, we used to use OTRS for job tickets. Well worth a look. Open source too.

 

[Bozzy]

Could Spiceworks not do a similar job?

We use it at work for help desk and asset logging... im sure it could be adapted to suit your purpose.. and it's free.

Could work in a similar way to above ... secretary logs it and tech's pick up the jobs



http://www.spiceworks.com/

 

[SuB]

https://highrisehq.com/

https://basecamp.com/

http://www.zendesk.com/

Excellent way to communicate and store information about people/stuff/contacts/jobs/time used/to-do's and there's mobile apps for each.

Zendesk is "the" ticket management software at the minute as well.

 

[mrapoc]

:lol: at the moment its a combination of paper based work sheets, excel spread sheets and sage for invoicing

with little stickers with a job number on them

I'll have a looky at those, just need it to be as simple and quick to use as possible - we don't have admin. it's literally me and the boss juggling repairs with booking customers in, chasing up, invoicing (not my job but the boss is so busy there is a lot of invoicing to do)

so the more time i can get on fixing stuff the better :lol: have you looked at http://pcrepairtracker.com/ ? First impressions?

 

[kerk_malin]

I think that Zendesk will be the most deliberate choice in this case.

 

[Mark Devago]

I used Gincore almost 5 mnth. I really like it